Tag Archives: Retina

The above video is from EyeMaginations and gives a great description of what Cataracts are:

Cataracts are a normal and common part of the aging process but, they do not have to interfere with your lifestyle. A cataract is a cloudiness of the crystalline lens inside of your eye. As your lens gets cloudier, your vision will gradually become more blurred.

The human eye may best be compared to a camera. When you take a picture, the lens in the front of the camera allows light through and then focuses that light on the film in the back of the camera. When the light hits the film, a picture is taken. The eye works in much the same way.

In youth, the crystalline lens of your eye is clear and allows light to pass through. Light is focused by your cornea and your crystalline lens onto a thin layer of nerve tissue in the back of your eye called – the retina. Your retina works like the film in a camera. When the focused light hits the retina – a “picture” is taken and sent to your brain.

While a dirty camera lens blurs a picture, any significant cataract or cloudiness in your crystalline lens will blur the images that you see.

When a cataract becomes significant – your vision can become quite blurry. It is suggested if your vision drops below 20/40 or so….then it is common to be told to see an eye surgeon to have cataract surgery.

This surgery involves taking out the cloudy crystalline lens (cataract) and replacing it with a clear implant. Often your surgeon can even do a calculation that can place your current eyeglass prescription into the lens implant. The result after the cataract surgery can be much clearer vision and often there is no need for glasses after the surgery!

For more information – see your local Optometrist or Dr Dawn Bearden or Dr Anna-Kay Tenn in Pembroke Pines 954-430-3808 or Sunrise 954-851-9949 for your yearly eye exam and they will be happy to discuss cataracts and cataract surgery options with you!

This incredible technology allows your Eye Doctor to scan the internal lining of your eye called the retina and save this image on the computer for year to year comparisons. The retina has about 1 million nerve fibers in it and is an extension of your brain. The retina is also the ONLY place in the human body where a doctor can observe working nerve fibers and blood vessels WITHOUT cutting into the body. Subtle eye health changes can be documented, monitored and compared each year.

Your retina can show early signs of systemic problems that can cause damage to nerves and blood vessels such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol and more. Your retina can also demonstrate eye health issues such as Glaucoma, Retinal Detachment, Macular Degeneration and Eye Tumors and/or Eye Cancer.

Most of the time the patient does not need to have their eyes dilated in order for the Optometrist to obtain a good Optomap retinal scan – so this is a big benefit.

The TV show called “The Doctors” aired a segment discussing theOptomap Retinal Scan and the benefits of this technology during your yearly eye examination to preserve BOTH your eye health and your systemic health.

Great News!!! If you live in South Florida / Broward County then you need to know that we are Eye Doctor / Optometrist providers for the EyeMed Network Vision Care Insurance Plan to provide you with your discounted Eye Exam, Vision Exam, Vision Testing, Eye Testing, Contact Lens Exam and more!

Please call our offices to confirm that we are still participating in YOUR plan….as contracts come up – some plans are added and others are deleted. Again, its always best to check with us first and remember that the list above is only a partial list!

Be sure to use your benefits before the end of the year….use your Flex Plan Spending!

Astigmatism is a refractive error – meaning that the light that is coming into the eye is not focused perfectly on the “film” in back of the eye (called the retina – which is a layer of nerve tissue). The retina is much like a movie screen or the film in your camera – the image must be focused PERFECTLY on the retina for the eye to see clearly. If the image is focused in front of the retina or behind the retina – much like a movie screen or camera film – the image will be blurry. This unfocused image is sent by the retina to the brain – where it is perceived as blurry, cloudy or distorted vision.

Astigmatism is a refractive error caused when the front surface of the eye (the cornea)or the lens (which is located inside the eye behind the colored part of the eye – called the iris) is irregularly shaped and oblong – much like a football. This irregular shape causes the light to be focused on 2 seperate points – either in front of or behind the retina. This causes distortion of the vision and blur at all distances. So objects at a distance and also nearby are blurry and/or distorted. The higher the degree of astigmatism – the more distortion and blur you will have.

Several methods can focus the light perfectly on the retina for you. Glasses, contact lenses (called astigmatic or toric contacts) or laser vision correction are aids that are available to help focus the light and images on the retina – which will get you to see clearly again!